Romans on Perfection

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liturgy

Loving father, there are times when it
Author

Austin D. Hill
Keywords
Scripture

Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:9, Galatians 6:4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:8
Loving father, there are times when it feels like we never get it right. We compare ourselves to others and we don’t measure up. It seems like we can never get our act together and live up to the stan...
illustration

Warped Wood & Crooked Timber
Author

The Pastor's Workshop
Keywords
Scripture

Jeremiah 18:1-6, Isaiah 64:8, Genesis 6:5-6, Romans 7:18-25, Philippians 3:12-14 , Psalm 51:10-12 , Romans 3:23
The recognition of humanity's flawed nature is not exclusive to Christianity. Aristotle, in his work Ethics , compares human nature to a warped piece of wood. To rectify this warp, a skilled ...
Quote
Author

Irwyn L. Ince Jr.
Keywords
- Beauty
- Transcendence
Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:17, Romans 8:18, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 127:3, Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 3:11
The mystery of perfection as an aspect of beauty is its transcendence. It points to a glory beyond itself. I knew that when I held my children, I didn’t simply cradle flesh and blood. I held a living ...
Quote
Author

Sam Keen
Keywords
Scripture

Ephesians 4:2, John 21:15-19, 1 Peter 4:8, Colossians 3:12-14, Romans 12:9-10, Ruth 1:16, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.
illustration

The Sense of an Ending
Author

James Bryan Smith
Keywords
Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Galatians 6:9, 1 John 3:2, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
Life is short, and we can accomplish only so much. Much of what we do will remain unfinished. For now. In one of my favorite short stories of all time, “Leaf by Niggle,” author J. R. R. Tolkien provid...
liturgy

We affirm the good news that this
Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.
Keywords
Scripture

1 Timothy 1:15, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 6:11
We affirm the good news that this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He personally bore our sins in His body on the cross, s...
illustration

When Grace Strikes
Author

Brennan Manning
Keywords
Scripture

Romans 5:20, Isaiah 61:1-3, Psalm 34:18, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Kings 19:1-18
Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life…. It strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for pe...
scripture guide

Scripture Guide, Revelation 21:10, 22:1-5
Author

Gabe Fung
Keywords
Scripture

Revelation 21:10, Revelation 21:2, 10, 22-27, Revelation 22:1-5, 1 Kings 6:20, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3:23-24, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17-19, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:23, Genesis 1:26-27, Exodus 33:20-23, John 14:9, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3, Mark 15:34, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30, John 4:13-14, John 7:37-38, Matthew 27:46, John 3:2, Romans 8:29
Pulling Back the Curtain The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal both the unseen realities of the present (what is really going on in the world from God’s perspect...
lectionary

Sixth Sunday of Easter
Author

Gabe Fung
Keywords
Scripture

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5, Revelation 21:2, 10, 22-27, Revelation 22:1-5, 1 Kings 6:20, Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 2:9, Genesis 3:23-24, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17-19, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Ephesians 6:5-9, Colossians 3:23, Genesis 1:26-27, Exodus 33:20-23, John 14:9, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3, Mark 15:34, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Exodus 28:15-21, 29-30, John 4:13-14, John 7:37-38, Matthew 27:46, John 3:2, Romans 8:29
Preaching Commentary Pulling Back the Curtain The Revelation of Jesus Christ is a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal both the unseen realities of the present (what is really going on in the wo...
illustration

Merton’s Turn to Christ and Virtue
Author

James Bryan Smith
Keywords
Scripture

James 3:17, Romans 12:2, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 1 Timothy 4:12, Titus 2:7-8
In The Seven Storey Mountain , Thomas Merton describes his life of sin and his eventual turning to God in his early years. He despised and ridiculed the word virtue, which had come to mean “prudery p...
illustration

Our God is Great as God is Good
Author

Gardner C. Taylor
Keywords
Scripture

Romans 5:8, Psalm 90:2, James 1:17, Psalm 145:3, 1 John 4:8
The great African-American preacher Gardner Taylor, preacher of the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn for over 40 years, begins one of his sermons with a paean to the God revealed to us in the 66 boo...
illustration

A Map & Our Beliefs
Author

Gregory Koukl
Keywords
- Belief
- Maps
Scripture

Proverbs 3:5-6, Micah 6:8, Matthew 7:13-14, James 1:5, Romans 12:2, Jeremiah 6:16, Psalm 119:105
A few years ago I was with my family in Washington, D.C., a wildly complex city laid out like a square wheel with broken spokes making an angular maze that is a nightmare to navigate. However, my fami...
Quote
Author

Jeremy Taylor
Keywords
- Beauty
- Sweetness
Scripture

Hebrews 5:14, Isaiah 6:9-10, Proverbs 20:27, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 4:18
It is not the eye that sees the beauty of the heaven, nor the ear that hears the sweetness of music or the glad tidings of a prosperous occurrence, but the soul, that perceives all the relishes of sen...
Quote
Author

Søren Kierkegaard
Keywords
Scripture

John 15:12, Matthew 9:20-22, Luke 10:25-37, Galatians 5:22-23, Colossians 3:14, Romans 12:9-10
When one has once fully entered the realm of Love, the world—no matter how imperfect—becomes rich and beautiful, it consists solely of opportunities for Love.
Quote
Author

Christopher Marlowe
Keywords
- Beauty
- Goodness
Scripture

Titus 2:7, Isaiah 61:3, 1 Peter 3:4, Romans 12:21, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Exodus 33:19
Goodness is beauty in the best estate.
Quote
Author

Blaise Pascal
Keywords
- Beauty
- Imagination
Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:13, Revelation 21:4, Philippians 4:8, Romans 12:2, Matthew 5:9, Isaiah 1:17
Imagination disposes of everything; it creates beauty, justice, and happiness, which are everything in this world.
Quote
Author

C. S. Lewis
Keywords
- Beauty
- Desire
Scripture

John 17:24, Isaiah 33:17, Revelation 21:23, Colossians 3:3-4, Philippians 3:20-21, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18
We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to r...
illustration

Near a Wonderful Beauty
Author

Donald McCullough
Keywords
Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:11, Genesis 1:31, Psalm 19:1, Psalm 8:3-4, Romans 1:20, Psalm 96:11-12, Psalm 65:9-13, Colossians 2:2-3
J.M. Montgomery’s novel Emily of New Moon has a passage that conveys the attractive and terrifying aspects of the mystery of God: It had always seemed to Emily, ever since she could remember, th...
Quote
Author

Rainer Maria Rilke
Keywords
Scripture

Psalm 23:4, Philippians 3:13-14, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 43:2, 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, Psalm 30:5, Romans 5:3-5
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Quote
Author

Victor Hugo
Keywords
- Blindness
- Receiving Love
Scripture

1 John 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:6, Romans 8:38-39, Luke 18:42, Isaiah 42:16, Psalm 146:8
We may remark in passing that to be blind and beloved may, in this world where nothing is perfect, be among the most strangely exquisite forms of happiness. The supreme happiness in life is the assura...
Quote
Author

Dan B. Allender
Keywords
Scripture

Revelation 22:17, Isaiah 26:9, James 1:14-15, Philippians 1:23, Galatians 5:17, Romans 7:23
Desire lies at the heart of who God made us to be, who we are at our core. Desire is both our greatest frailty and the mark of our highest beauty. Our desire completes us as we become One with our Lov...
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The Perfect (Mythical) Woman
Author

Richella J. Parham
Keywords
Scripture

Genesis 6:4-5, 2 Corinthians 10:12, Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, Psalm 139:14, Romans 12:4-5, Philippians 4:11-13
In her excellent little book (Mythical Me), Richella Parham begins by describing a single event that led to a personal journey into addressing her struggles with comparison. Having recently moved to a...
Quote
Author

Gerard Manley Hopkins
Keywords
- Beauty
Scripture

Romans 10:15, Isaiah 61:3, Proverbs 31:30, 1 Peter 3:4, Zephaniah 6:3
Glory be to God for dappled things.
Quote
Author

Macrina Wiederkehr
Keywords
Scripture

Zephaniah 3:17, Jeremiah 31:3, Genesis 1:27, Song of Solomon 4:7, Romans 8:16-17
Oh God help me believe the truth about myself no matter how beautiful it is!
Quote
Author

C. S. Lewis
Keywords
Scripture

John 14:2-3, Isaiah 26:9, Revelation 21:3-4, Romans 8:23, Psalm 27:4
It was when I was happiest that I longed most. The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing to find the place where all the beauty came from.
Quote
Author

Ralph Waldo Emerson
Keywords
Scripture

Joshua 1:6-9, Nehemiah 2:11-20, 1 Kings 19:19-21, Psalm 122:1, Romans 12:11
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Quote
Author

Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Keywords
Scripture

Genesis 1:31, Job 12:7-10, Isaiah 55:12-13, Matthew 6:26-29, Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1
Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will percei...
Quote
Author

Dante Alighieri
Keywords
- Beauty
- Awakening
Scripture

Revelation 21:2, Matthew 26:10, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Romans 10:15
Beauty awakens the soul to act.
Quote
Author

Simone Weil
Keywords
- The Incarnation
Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:6, Ephesians 2:10, Isaiah 6:3, Philippians 2:6-8, Romans 1:20, Psalm 19:1
The beautiful is the experimental proof that the incarnation is possible.
illustration

Excellence, the Jeremiah Way
Author

Eugene H. Peterson
Keywords
- Achievement
- Excellence
Scripture

Matthew 23:12, 2 Corinthians 4:7, Romans 12:2, Galatians 5:16-17, Colossians 3:12-14, Micah 6:8, Philippians 3:7-8
In Jeremiah it is clear that the excellence comes from a life of faith, from being more interested in God than in self, and has almost nothing to do with comfort or esteem or achievement. Here is a pe...